


Summer Bummer

by nghtskies



Category: That '70s Show
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Family Feels, Jackie Leaves Point Place trope, Kitty just wants her kids to be happy, Post-Series, Single parenthood, Situational appropriate angst, everyone is oblivious, strong family/friendship bonds
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2019-09-30
Packaged: 2020-11-08 07:48:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20831915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nghtskies/pseuds/nghtskies
Summary: She just wants her baby boy back, and if she had to send him to a place she hasn’t been in fourteen years to have him realize he’s on a dangerous course, then she will.





	Summer Bummer

**Author's Note:**

> Jackie left Point Place in an escape to be rid of everything that is wrong with her life, yet she didn’t leave without a parting gift. Thirteen years later, she sees her son slowly starting to lash out and get into more trouble than she can handle, and she makes the tough decision to send him away for the summer, to the only people who knew how to reign in troubled teens. 
> 
> Authors Note: Hiya, I’ve been reading a lot of fics that have the “Jackie disappears from Point Place and comes back with a child” trope and I just wanted to do my own take on it. This will not be a long story (probably will only be like 3-5 chapters) as my focus will be mostly on my other fic, The Means to an End, but I do hope you enjoy it! 
> 
> As always there are a few housekeeping things: I’ve never watched Season 8 so that will largely be ignored (mostly Jackie/Fez, and any major plot point that involves Jackie because she would've not been there), Jackie did give Steven the ultimatum, but disappeared off the face of the earth before he showed up to the motel, so that’s where they stand. She has had no contact with any of the basement gang, and now resides in Cali.

**San Diego, California.**

**1993**

The young, dark haired woman tugged her ruby red stained bottom lip between her teeth and began to worry at it as she smoothed her olive toned, sun tanned hands across the taller boy’s thick, wavy raven hair. She knew he had a plane to catch, and she also knew how much it annoyed him when she fussed over him, but she just couldn’t help it. 

He was her baby.

She had clear memory of his chubby cheeks, his young smiling face, and his soft voice whispering her name for the first time. It was hard for her to see him becoming a person she couldn’t recognize; a person filled with such misplaced rage that he was replacing her loving smiling baby with someone who only glared or scowled at others. 

She would love to think that this was just a phase, that adolescent hormones were just at play here but she couldn’t ignore his patterned behavior. He was calling out for help, and she had the awful, sinking feeling that she couldn’t help him. 

She smoothed her petite hands from her baby’s soft, dark hair to the tanned skin of his unmarked cheeks, her head tilting up to see her baby boy’s face more clearly. Mismatched, jewel toned eyes met hazel-blue ones, and she let out a shaky breath as the intercom announced that her baby’s flight was now being boarded. 

“You have everything, yes?” She asked him, her eyes still firmly locked onto his as he nodded his head, readjusting the backpack strap that rested on his left shoulder. She let out another deep exhale, and rubbed her thumb across his slowly flushing cheeks

“You have the picture I gave you of the Formans, and you’ll call me as soon as you make it to their house, right?” She watched as her son nodded once more and she found herself enveloping him in a tight hug, squeezing him slightly as she squeezed her eyes shut. She hated to send him away for the summer, she hated that her son would be miles away from her and even though he would just be a phone call away, she hated that he wouldn’t be waiting at home for her when she got off of work. 

The intercom announced the boarding of her baby’s flight once more, and she felt her son try and pry himself away from her small body but she held on tight.

“ _ Mom-”  _ His slightly deeper voice persisted, as he brought his ring clad hands to her shaking shoulders trying to pry the petite woman from his chest. God, even his voice was changing. She sniffled softly to herself and reluctantly let go of him; her hand wiping her nose as she sniffed again, tear filled eyes locked with his bashful gaze.

“I know, I know.” She breathed out, moving her dark hair behind her shoulders as she shook her head. She took in her baby boy’s unmarked face once more before she held up her pinky in front of her, hoping he would intertwine his own to hers. 

“Promise me you’ll try and be on your  _ best _ behavior. I know you don’t want to leave for the summer; I know you are angry at me but these people mean a lot to me, and I know they’ll help you with whatever it is that is changing you from the loving, kind boy I know you are.” 

She watched her son shift uncomfortably on his feet, his hazel-blue eyes darting around the busy airport and his tanned, ring clad fingers gripped the black strap of his backpack. “ _ Mom…”  _ He said once more, his gravelly voice taking on a slightly whining tone as he looked anywhere but her. 

“ _ Stephen.” _ She deadpanned, her jewel tone gaze still firmly locked onto him as she waved her pinky in front of him. “Promise me.” 

The young dark haired teen shifted on his feet once more, his deep hazel-blue gaze locked onto hers and he let out a deep exhale. Holding up his calloused pinky, he intertwined it with her own and gave her a soft grin; a grin that let her know even though his counselors were saying her baby boy was becoming a lost cause, he was still willing to change. 

The two brunettes held the pink promise for a moment, locking it before they dropped their hands back to their sides. The young woman gave her son another sad smile and hugged him once more before wishing him goodbye. She felt him awkwardly pat her back before pulling away from her and slowly walking to board his crowded plane. 

Jackie let out another sigh to herself, before she called out that she would be coming to the Forman’s for his birthday as it was the only week her job let her have off. She watched as he waved her off, and just like that her baby boy was gone, headed to a place she never thought she would ever speak of again, to the group of people (besides two) that she was sure forgot her long ago. Shaking her shoulder length dark hair, she let out another deep sigh and began to walk back to her car. 

* * *

**Point Place, Wisconsin**

**1993**

Kitty knew she had a bad case of what many called a  _ bleeding heart _ . 

It was something she had ever since she could remember. She just felt the overwhelming need to help others, to nurture others, and when that need wasn’t being filled, she felt incomplete, useless. 

Maybe that’s why she became a nurse. Maybe that was why she became the surrogate mother to her son’s many friends. Maybe that was why even after not hearing from her son’s youngest friend in almost a year, she not only stayed on the phone with the dark haired girl, but also kept her secret for all of these years. 

The elder woman remembered the day like it was any other recent one. She remembered the unrest the petite woman left in Point Place, how her disappearance took a toll on her surrogate children; how it took a toll on her and husband. She remembered being sick with worry, wondering if the young brunette was even alive in the vast world. She recalled the many nights her and Red stayed up late, examining every newspaper they could get their hands on in hopes of finding some closure about the dark haired teen that disappeared from their lives. But closure came at the crack of dawn, on a day when she least expected it to. 

It was on a usual night, Red was seated at the kitchen table in his usual seat, a white steaming mug filled with black coffee as his eyes roamed over the many articles of his newspaper. She was seated next to him, her own eyes roaming over her newspaper, red pen circling anything that could’ve linked back to the dark haired woman; then the phone rang. 

At first she thought it could be a misdial because everyone knew not to call the Forman residence past 8:00 p.m., but then her overactive imagination got the best of her. She started to think about how it could be the hospital calling her because one of her babies had an accident or something more dire, but her imagination didn’t prepare herself for the voice she heard. On the other end of the line was voice she was so used to hearing yell out in her basement, a voice she hadn’t heard in many months. The girl’s name escaped her lips in a harsh whisper, and Kitty heard the girl on the other end burst into sobs and rambles.

The first thing the elder woman noticed was how tired and worn out Jackie sounded; the next thing she noticed was the distinct cry of a baby in the background. 

She listened as the young girl,  _ no _ , the young woman cried and told her story; a story about a scared teen that was forced to grow up too fast because of miscommunication and a missed birth control pill. She listened as the woman explained how she was _ so _ tired, confused and lost, and listened to her scream about a baby that wouldn’t stop screaming at her. 

She wanted to embrace the young woman, to comfort her, to take the pain away, but how could she do that when she had no clue where the dark haired woman was. That fateful night was spent calming down a woman in hysterics and exchanging parenting tips; it was a long night, but when Kitty’s head finally hit her pillow, it was the first night in months she truly slept. 

The phone calls from Jackie slowly became more frequent and when there weren’t calls, there were letters containing pictures of the same baby that was in the background of the very first phone call. It was hard honoring the girl’s wishes by protecting her whereabouts and life activities but she (and Red) managed to do so, too scared that if they went against the girl, she would disappear once more. 

As the years passed and Kitty’s nest emptied, she found herself enjoying life of retirement. Sure her son only lived a couple of blocks away and even though he traveled a lot, she still saw him every time he and his wife wanted a home cooked meal (which was whenever they were home). Sure, the sliding door to her kitchen was still treated like a revolving door of a hotel, people always coming and going, but it was nice to have a quiet house that was not bustling with rowdy teenagers. 

Yet, she didn’t know why she still felt that deep longing in the pits of her heart, that  _ need _ to help someone when she was sure her time of helping was over. 

That longing was only explained when she received her weekly call from Jackie just last week. The elder woman immediately could sense something was off from the younger’s exasperated tone of voice and listened as the dark haired woman ranted about her son’s many plights through the phone.

The boy was lashing out, and Jackie seemed to be at her wits end with his antics, stating that the middle school principal suggested giving him a change of scenery but on her salary, she couldn’t afford to take that advice.. Before she could fix her mouth to offer her advice to the young woman, the deep voice of her husband sounded through the phone, demanding that Jackie send her boy to stay with the two of them for the summer. She was shocked to say the least, as she did not know that Red was even listening in on the call, but she agreed with him nonetheless. 

This led her to where she stood now, at Point Place’s airport, a plate of saran wrapped snickerdoodle cookies in her hands as she stood on her tippy toes to look for the young teen she had only seen in photographs; her husband by her side not saying a word as he surveyed the crowded area, as well. 

It took a few moments before they spotted a head of dark wavy locks and Kitty couldn’t contain herself from waving her hand in an animated motion. She watched the young teen notice her, and walk to the pair of them, his dark blue suitcase rolling behind him as his long legs crossed the wide space. 

At first glance, She found herself thinking how pictures did not do the young boy justice. His tanned, olive toned skin seemed to gleam under the fluorescent lights of the airport. His dark hair was wavy and full, seeming to bounce with every step the young male took. He seemed to take after his mother’s naturally lean build, but he did appear to be average height for his age. 

It was obvious that this teen in front of her was her dear Jackie’s son, and even if she hadn’t received photos of the boy ever since he was a couple of months young, she was sure anyone who knew Jackie could pin-point that he was hers even if there was another sense of familiarity coming from him that she couldn’t quite place. Kitty’s large smile spread even wider as the boy gave her a bashful grin, and nodded to her and her husband beside her. 

“Hey, Mrs. Forman.” He greeted her, and suddenly, she was handing the plate of snikerdoodles to her husband, enveloping the taller teen into a tight embrace. She heard him let out a choked sound, and awkwardly keep his hands still on his worn backpack, oddly giving her a sense of deja vu, but she shook it off and squeezed the dark haired teen tighter. 

“Oh  _ my, _ have you grown!” She exclaimed as she pulled away briefly to take in his face once more before embracing him again. 

“It seems like yesterday your mother was sending me photos of you taking your first steps.” She cooed as she rocked the boy back and forth in her hug, causing his tanned cheeks to flush a soft pink. She wanted to hold him for a bit longer, but she heard the clearing of her husband’s throat and decided to step away from teen before her husband had anything to say. 

She gave the young boy another beaming smile as she practically shook with excitement. It felt  _ good _ to have another teen under her care, and she knew with time he would return home to Jackie as the young man she knew he could be. Kitty felt her smile widen, and lightly tapped her husband’s shoulder; her gaze still firmly on the young dark haired teen’s face. 

“Oh, Red hand him his cookies.” She breathed out as she took a step away from the boy, turning on her heel to walk towards their vehicle, expecting the two men to follow her. She rambled in her usual manner as they walked, telling the boy about how they prepared the guest room for him, and how they would be having his favorite meal for dinner tonight, among other things. 

As she sat down in the front seat of the family vehicle, she assured the boy that he could refer to her as his grandmother and that he wouldn’t be too bored this summer, even though he was here as punishment, she didn’t want the house to feel like a prison for the boy.

She heard Red snort at her comment, and couldn’t resist the roll of her eyes that followed, even his cool behavior wouldn’t bother her today. As she looked at the boy that silently bobbed his head to the music that was playing through the headphones of his walkman, she felt herself bounce slightly in her seat. Oh, it felt splendid to help again. 

* * *

An hour had passed since the trio had arrived to the Forman’s residence, Stephen rested his head on the patterned wall, ring cladded fingers gripped the mustard yellow telephone that he held to his ear. He listened to his mom ask him multiple questions about his trip down to the small town he was forced to inhabit, and felt hisself grow a bit frustrated by his situation. He made noncommittal noises to let her know he was at least halfway listening, even if he was focusing more on toying with the dark hem of his fading Nirvana tee. 

“Yeah, Mom, I gotta go. Don’t wanna cause the Forman’s phone bill to shoot through the roof, ya know?” He mumbled into the phone biting back the building sigh, as his eyes rolled at his mother’s rambles. He loved his mom, and he knew she was just a bit nervous about him being so far away but God could she go  _ on and on.  _ He listened as she said her goodbyes, and let his eyes roll as she started to ramble once more. 

“ _ Bye,  _ Mom.” He persisted, hanging the mustard yellow phone on it’s receiver, ending the call. 

He shook his thick wavy hair out of his eyes, letting out a deep sigh rubbing the back of his neck before he turned around; his dark hazel-blue gaze landing on the elder man that invited him into his home. The young teen let out an awkward chuckle as the elder man continued to stare at him, shifting uncomfortably on his soles of his combat boots feeling as if the man’s deep green gaze was peeling away at his defenses, staring into his blackened soul.

“Sit down, son.” 

“Uh, I was going to go upstairs and unpack.” Stephen protested, his hands making a gesture with his hands to the door that lead out to the living room. A brief, silent moment passed by yet the elder man’s gaze did not waver, and before the dark haired teen knew it, he was plopping down into a mint green chair across from the man his own mother viewed as a father. Another moment passed causing Stephen to think that this man was going to stare him to death, but then he started to speak. 

Unlike his mother, the man in front of him seemed to yell out rules at him. His mother gave him a curfew as a suggestion; Red commanded him to follow through with his curfew. His mother allowed him to roam around the neighborhood; Red said that the only place he would be going to is the store with Mrs. Forman. His mother always reminded him of what chores he had to complete; Red just handed him a list, and Stephen had a sinking feeling that if he did not complete them there would be hell for him to pay. 

So as he stood in the Forman’s guess room, he wanted to take his backpack and sneak out of the window. He wanted to escape, to leave this conformist hell his mother had sent him to, but with one black boot out of the window he found himself unable to make the jump. Sure he wanted to go back to California, to see his friends again, to have his freedom once more, but all he could see was his mother’s disappointed gaze; the same gaze she held when his principal listed his many indiscretions. 

Plopping down onto the small twin bed, he let out a deep groan and closed his eyes. He was sure this summer was going to be hell, but at least it would make his mother happy that he was trying. 


End file.
